LIFE ISN’T ALWAYS SIMPLE

Dear Amelia,
I’m sorry I haven’t written much lately.
It’s because a lot has been going on, some good and some very bad.
The very bad is that your Uncle Paul was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes a few weeks back and it’s knocked everyone for six.
He wasn’t feeling well, so went to the doctor, who ordered some blood tests.
Next thing you know it’s 7.30 the following night and his doctor’s ringing him to say go to hospital immediately, you’re in danger of slipping into a diabetic coma.
So he did (go to RPH, I mean), and now he’s injecting himself with insulin four times a day.
No type of diabetes is good, but Type 1 is the pits.
It’s the less common kind – only about 15 per cent of diabetics have it and it’s not related to lifestyle like Type 2 can be.
No one knows what causes it, nothing can be done to prevent it or cure it, and if you don’t have regular insulin injections, you die.
To say your Grandpa and I have been worried out of our minds is an understatement.
Not surprisingly, your Uncle Paul hasn’t been feeling too flash either but he’s amazingly stoical and is getting on with the business of living with a condition that unlike many illnesses can at least be controlled.
For that we are extremely grateful because we love him very much.
To continue on the “keeping it under control” theme, I’m very pleased to announce that at two and a half you are in control of your bodily functions, with the exception of picking your nose and eating it, which we’ll have to train you to do in private if you’re not to grow up a social outcast.
But what the hell. You’re toilet trained!

This picture was taken shortly after you and your Mum returned from the restaurant’s public conveniences. You are now fearless when it comes to toilets.

This is such a milestone and it’s really good for your Mum that it’s been reached before the arrival of your baby brother in May.
It was a short and highly successful campaign waged by the day care ladies and your Mum and Dad and helped along greatly by a special toilet-seat insert that allows you to sit on a proper toilet without dropping bum-first into the bowl and ending up in the ocean out beyond Capel.
These inserts hadn’t been invented when your Mum and Uncle Paul were little and, believe me, they’re a godsend because every little kid loves the challenge presented by a big toilet.
You particularly love your after-dinner session and will sit there for ages, singing and chatting to yourself and seeing how much toilet paper you can unroll onto the floor before someone catches you.
It’s a joy to witness and makes me think that we’d probably all feel a lot more valued if our Mums and Dads and Nannas and Grandpas could come into the toilet and clap and cheer every time we perform a bowel movement.
I’ve got no idea how I’m going to segue into a recipe after this discussion.
In honour of your Uncle Paul’s pancreas and your own bowel movements, I should probably post something healthy.
Instead I’m going to give you a recipe for Scallop and Leek Tart that I made for your Grandpa and I on the night of Good Friday.
It’s from the book A Consuming Passion by Michelin-starred New Zealand chef Adam Newell.

I love this book and I love Adam Newell.
The last time I wrote about a recipe of his he sent me a very nice email and I almost died of shock and amazement.
I’ll leave you his book in my will but I would suggest to everyone else that they buy it at Fishpond (a bargain at $25.95, hardback, free postage).
It goes without saying that my Scallop and Leek Tart was nothing like Adam Newell’s because I’m not a Michelin-starred chef, I didn’t make my own puff pastry, I didn’t have any saffron and I couldn’t find white balsamic vinegar for love or money.
That said, it was still bloody delicious.
Your Grandpa said it tasted like a scallop pizza only silkier and better and with puff pastry.
He means wells.

To make the vinaigrette, put the tomatoes in a bowl and cover with boiling water.
Leave for a few minutes then peel, de-seed and chop the flesh into fine dice.
Brig the vinegar to the boil in a small saucepan, take it off the heat and stir in the balsamic vinegar and capers (and saffron, if using).
Let it cool then add the diced tomato, olive oil, salt and pepper.
Leave it to infuse while you get on with the tart.
To make the tart, preheat the oven to 200C.
Sweat the leeks in the olive oil in a frying pan (use a low heat) until they’re soft but not coloured. Season with salt and pepper, stir and cool.
Cut 15cm circles from each sheet of pastry and crimp the edges by pinching them with your fingers.
Put the pastry discs on a baking tray(s) and spread the leeks over the top, leaving a 1cm or so leek-free edge.
Put the whole scallops on top of the leeks in a single layer.
Bake for 10-15 minutes until the edges of the pastry discs are puffed and golden.
To serve, put some salad leaves and shaved parmesan on top of each tart, pile the rest of the leaves on the sides of the plates and drizzle the vinaigrette over the top and around the edge of the tarts.

This is what it should look like when done by a proper chef

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4 Comments on “LIFE ISN’T ALWAYS SIMPLE”

I am sorry to hear about your son. Type 1 is difficult condition, bloody pancreas, Diabetes Australia are funding research and I hope for your son and many others a cure will be found in the near future. Congratulations on the toilet training,we have a Sesame Street seat here for my niece and when he was younger nephew,very posh. My thoughts and good wishes are with you and yours if you need to talk, I know you don’t actually know me but I am a good listener to post 50 venting ladies (being one myself). I am sure your girlfriends will do this but if not,just email. Your son will take a while to get used to things but I am sure he will be fighting fit and on top of his condition really soon.

Y’know, I reckon a Type I diabetes diagnosis is always the rougher end of the bloody pineapple…because you’ve done bugger all to deserve it…and because of all the stabby stabby BS. Have heart though Michele, that large and hairy apple of your eye will be a fitter, “healthier” and more thoughtful model of Australian manhood because of it….but gawwwwwwd….what a pisser!

Followed your post back to the other prawns recipe….now where is that deli for wanton (tee hee) wrappers?….I’m new to the area and although I’ve looked…..I’ve never seen one in the wild.

What a pisser is dead right, Tan.
There was a bit of “why me?” at the beginning (quite rightly too, if you ask me) but he’s getting there.
I’m very proud of the way he’s handling it.
The deli is called Mariella’s and it’s in Hardy Rd opposite the Spencer Park shopping centre.
I’ve since seen wonton wrappers somewhere else – may have been in the freezer section in Coles or IGA in town, can’t remember which.
If I come across them again I’ll email you.
All the best,
Michele